Compact representation of data transmitted over a network, such as the Internet, to a user provides for a faster transmission of a stream of data between a server and a client. Compact representation reduces the size of the transmitted files, contributing, therefore, to the reduction of time the user needs to wait for the file to be downloaded from the host server to the user's computer. Compact representation and fast transmission of data becomes especially important in the case of large files, since long downloading time often is the key consideration in the user's decision to download a certain file from an Internet site. From the viewpoint of a business operating an Internet site and selling various products to its customers in the electronic form via the Internet site, compressing the data for faster transmission to the customers without sacrificing the quality of the data is one of the most important issues contributing to successful business operation.
Graphical representation of sheet music can be transmitted over the Internet similarly to other non-music graphical materials. If all that is transmitted to the user is a file of a graphical representation of sheet music to be displayed on the user's computer screen, then the transmission time of such a file is similar to that of a standard graphical file. However, the size of a file and the transmission time greatly increase, if the representation of sheet music comprises not only its graphical representation, but also a variety of interactive capabilities available to the user. Such interactive capabilities may include playback features, notation tools, and scrolling the score as the music is played. The problem of achieving a compact representation of interactive printable digital sheet music and preparing the compact file of such music before uploading the file to server and then allowing the user to download the file is not easy to solve. It is also desirable to have the ability to separate various interactive features of an interactive sheet music file to give a user an option to download, for example, only the interactive part corresponding to a particular musical instrument or voice, or highlight only a specific part of the score as the music plays, or download the music only in the MIDI representation.
The need, therefore, exists, to provide the system and method for providing compact representation of printable sheet music with interactive features and the capabilities to choose and receive a preselected number of interactive features, the compact representation allowing the files containing such sheet music to be quickly transmitted from the server to the user.